Sanudy - Case Study

Posted 22 December 2014

Sanudy Mwisuka, his wife Matrida and their five children started being supported by The Mango Tree in 2008 after the TMT Tanzania health team visited Ndandalo to carry out HIV counselling and testing for local residents. Sanudy and Matrida were both tested and they discovered that they were both infected with the HIV virus. The Mango Tree field staff subsequently met with Sanudy and Matrida and carried out a household food security assessment. Their living situation, livelihoods capacity and average weekly income was extremely poor. Lack of knowledge about simple agricultural techniques to improve crop yields and the inability to diversify was being compounded by their poor health.

Sanudy and Matrida were registered with a Mango Tree supported HBC (Home Based Care) group which immediately provided them with a supportive network of other people who are living with HIV. They helped Sanudy and Matrida come to terms with living with HIV, to adjusting to a treatment programme and building up their courage to see a brighter future. They were then supported as part of our sustainable livelihoods programme with both training and farm inputs such as seeds, fruit tree saplings, cuttings, animal husbandry advice and piglets to start pig rearing.

Sanudy has learnt about intercropping and water saving techniques and has also introduced a range of new fruit crops to his farm: coconut, pawpaw, pineapples, bananas and sugar cane.

He manages to produce 10kg of fermented, dried coconut in a day, which earns him Tshs 3,000 per kg (£1.20). He estimates that his total net monthly income has risen to approximately Tshs 500,000 (£200) per month in just three years. Before we supported Sanudy and his family, they were struggling to survive on under half a dollar a day. He told Mario, the TMT Tanzania agriculturalist that his livelihood capacity and household income has improved by 80%. He can manage to pay school fees for his children, has access to a wider range of fruit and vegetables for his family to eat and has higher status in his village as other farmers ask his advice and copy his methods.